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A century of education and teaching was celebrated during Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School’s 100th anniversary weekend.

More than 1,000 former pupils from across the globe returned to the Waterfoot school to enjoy music, speeches and to rekindle old friendships.

Throughout the weekend, former pupils and staff mingled with the current students and enjoyed afternoon tea, speeches and a special Thanksgiving Service by former Bishop of Sheffield and ex BRGS pupil The Right Reverend Jack Nicholls.

Visitors recreated old class photos with former classmates and viewed work from various departments including CSI in the science laboratories and cheerleading in the Sports Hall.

They also enjoyed a celebration of music in the school hall followed by a grand finale when the frontage of the 1913 building was transformed with a unique light installation to celebrate 100 years of BRGS.

Headmaster Alan Porteous said he was delighted to see so many former students. He said: “It was lovely to see them all back in school and engaging with the people they knew after so many decades.

“The events over the weekend were all great, but I really enjoyed the light show on the front of the school. Archives of the last 100 years and images of faces were projected on the school and it was a good way to bring all of that together through a piece of art. It’s fantastic to celebrate 100 years. We’ve been offering high quality education for 100 years and we will continue to do so for many decades to come.”

Barry Dearden, 41, attended BRGS between 1984 and 1989. He said the reunion was a great chance to meet up with old friends and managed to capture a photograph with more than half of his former classmates.

He said: “There were 29 in the class and we had about half in the picture, so it was a really good turnout.”

Barry, who lived at Waterfoot during his time at BRGS and now works as head of finance for MEN Media, said his former classmates came from as far afield as Switzerland, Devon and London for the reunion. He said: “I had a great time at BRGS. The memories of those years are some of the best of my life.

“We were given a degree of responsibility that our peers didn’t have and a lot of the teachers were really good.”